Industrial lift truck



Sept. 13, 1966 3, w STEVENS 3,272,365

INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK Filed Dec. 5, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR DARYLW. STEVENS ATTOR NEY I Sept. 13, 1966 D. w. STEVENS 3,272,365

INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK Filed Dec. 5, 1963 -5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORDARYL W. STEVENS ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 Filed Dec. 5, 1963 D. W.STEVENS INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DARYL W. STEVENSsyyzww ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 D. w. STEVENS 3,272,365

INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK Filed Dec. 5, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 6 I02 1067 HZ v-i4o I30 mo H6 4 2 I32 I00 I' v47 --A 142 j us I x 1 \IIKZZKZLJ H.lfilllrlll llllln 104 '38 10a IjIZZnI lI'lHl l 74 40 48 INVENTOR 5o 57DARYL W. STEVENS ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 D. w. STEVENS 3,272,365

INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK Filed Dec. 5, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

DARYL W. STEVENS BY 60M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,272,365INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK Daryl W. Stevens, Battle Creek, Mich, assignor toClark Equipment Company, a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 3, 1963,Ser. No. 327,588 9 Claims. '(Cl. 214-671) The present invention relatesto industrial lift trucks and more particularly to front and sideloading fork lift trucks.

Industrial trucks are often used in stacking boxes, crates and similarcontainers on either side of aisles which are often long and narrow andthe stacks are often high and the containers heavy. The conventionalindustrial trucks for lifting the containers onto the stacks andremoving them therefrom are usually provided with a pair of horizontallypositioned, vertically movable forks projecting forwardly from the bodyof the truck. While industrial trucks of this type are normally highlymaneuverable in close places and in restricted areas, the combinedlength of the truck body and forwardly projecting forks is substantiallygreater than the width of many of the aisles in which the trucks mustoperate, and consequently the trucks frequently can not directlyapproach the stacks for discharging and removing the containers. It thusbecomes necessary to stop the truck in the aisle at the place where thecontainer is to be discharged or loaded and to manually remove it fromor load it on the truck forks from the side. This manual handlingoperation is not only dilficult and time consuming but may even behazardous to the workman, particularly in transferring the containersfrom the forks to and from relatively high stacks. The only satisfactoryalternative in the past has been to provide excessively wide aislesbetween the rows of containers so that the lift trucks can be maneuveredto a position where the forks can be moved inwardly and outwardlytransversely to the aisle and stack after the load has been elevated tothe top tier of the stack. This alternative, however, has the inherentdisadvantage of sacrificing much needed and usable floor space of thestorage area. While efforts have been made in the past to design frontand side loading fork lift trucks, the results have been unsatisfactorysince those trucks generally were otherwise substantially wider and/ orlonger than the conventional truck and required complicated and hard tocontrol mechanisms for manipulating the forks between the forward andside positions. It is therefore one of the principal objects of thepresent invention to provide a front and side loading lift truck whichcan move forwardly and rearwardly in narrow aisles and move its forksfrom a forwardly extending position to a laterally extending positionwithin the limits of the narrow aisle, and thence move the forks bothupwardly and downwardly and advance and retract the forks laterally intoand from the stacks on either side of the aisle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a front and side loadinglift truck which is relatively simple in construction and operation, andwhich is highly versatile in handling various sized containers and otherloads, and readily maneuverable into any desired position in narrowaisles or other confined loading and unloading areas.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a front and sideloading lift truck which can handle heavy loads on either side of thetruck without causing any substantial tilting or swaying fromside-to-side or producing any other serious instability in the bodyportion of the truck while the load is being moved on the forks and thetruck maneuvered from place to place with a load.

A further object is to provide a lift truck of the aforesaid type whichcan be effectively used as a standard or ice conventional fork lifttruck when the side loading feature is not required and in which theattachment for performing the side loading operation can be mounted on aconventional industrial truck chassis.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the present front and side loadingfork lift truck showing the upright and fork turned to one sidepreparatory to lifting a load;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the lift truck shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the lift truck shown in the precedingfigures;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the present lift truck showing it in anaisle with stacks of containers on either side thereof and illustratingthe manner in which the attachment on the .present truck operates tostack and remove oontainers along either side of the aisle;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary partial cross sectional view of the boom andsupport for the front and side loading fork attachment;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal cross sectional view through the upright of thepresent lift truck shown in the preceding figures, the section beingtaken on line 66 of FIG URE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary partial cross sectional view of the uprightshown in FIGURE 6, the section being taken on line 77 of the latterfigure;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary partial cross sectional view of a portion ofthe boom of the upright support; and

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the fully assembled upright, shownremoved from the vehicle.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, and to FIGURES 1 through 4in particular, numeral 10 designates a conventional industrial lifttruck having a chassis 12, body 14, right and left front wheels 16 and16' mounted on drive axle 18, and rear wheels 20 and 20' adapted to besteered by the operator through steering wheel 22. The truck may bedriven by either an electric motor or gasoline engine and is controlledby the operator from seat 24 mounted on or above the motor or enginecompartment 26. The truck thus far described may be considered standardor conventional for the purpose of the present description, and hencewill not be described in detail herein.

The attachment, which is designated generally by numeral 30, is mountedon truck 10 and consists of a hollow tubular column 32 rigidly securedat its base to frame member 34 of chassis 12 and extends upwardly to apoint substantially above the normal height of the operator sitting inseat 24. The column extends downwardly through frame member 34 and isjoined thereto by Welding, bolting or any other suitable securing meansfor rigidly retaining the column in its upright position. A boom 40 ispivotally mounted on the upper end of column 32 by a bearing assembly 42consisting of a sleeve 44 mounted on reduced diameter portion 46 ofcolumn 32 and rotatably retained thereon by upper and lower bearings 48and 50, the two bearings being seated in upper and lower internalannular grooves 52 and 54, respectively. The bearings may be of anysuitable type, such as ball or roller bearings, having outer races 56and inner races 57 seated against the internal portion of sleeve 44 andthe external surface of reduced diameter portion 46 of the column. Theboom 40 is rigidly secured to sleeve 44 by welding or any other suitablesecuring means and projects forwardly over the top of truck 10 and isprovided with a downwardly extending portion 58 spaced forwardly fromthe front of the truck and supporting upright 60. In the embodiment ofthe 3 invention shown in the drawings, the downwardly eX- tendingportion is formed integrally with tubular boom 40 and is joined tocolumn 62 of the upright by welding or by a plurality of bolts (notshown), column 62 being rigidly held by portion 58 in a verticalposition and adapted to move from side to side with the boom.

The slewing of the boom is accomplished by a drive, such as the oneshown in FIGURE 5, consisting of a sprocket 70 rigidly mounted on theupper end of reduced diameter portion 46 of column 32 above sleeve 44, asprocket 72 mounted on a rotatable shaft 74 extending downwardly throughboom 40 in bearing 76 and a chain 78 extending around the two sprockets70 and 72. Shaft 74 and sprocket 72 are driven by a hydraulic motor 80secured to the underside of boom 40 and operatively connected to thelower end of shaft 74. Since sprocket 70 is rigidly secured to the upperend of reduced diameter portion 46 of column 32, rotation of motor 80,shaft 74 and sprocket 72 in either direction, pivots the boom on bearingassembly 42 to either the right or left. As the motor rotates shaft 74and sprocket 72 in the clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 3, boom 40moves to the left and, as the shaft and sprocket are rotated in thecounter-clockwise direction, the boom moves to the right, carrying withit upright 60.

The upright 60 is supported by bearings 81 and 82 on the upper and lowerends of the column and is rotated between the forward position, shown inFIGURES 2 and 3, and one or the other lateral positions, as illustratedin FIGURE 1, by a drive consisting of a sprocket 84 rigidly secured tothe upper end of bearing 81, sprocket 86 mounted on rotatable shaft 88and extending downwardly through boom 40 in bearing 90, and a chain 92disposed around the two sprockets 84 and 86. The shaft 88 and sprocket86 are driven by a hydraulic motor 94 secured to the underside of boom40 and operatively connected to shaft 88. As the motor rotates shaft 88and sprocket 86 in the clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 3, thechain 92 rotates bearing 81 in the clockwise direction, thereby turningupright 60 to the right and, as the motor rotates shaft 88 and sprocket86 in the counter-clockwise direction, bearing 81 and the upright arerotated to the left. The hydraulic motors 80 and 94 are supplied withhydraulic fluid from a pump driven by the main motor of the truck,through flexible tubes or hose 96 and 96', extending upwardly throughcolumn 32 and to hydraulic motor 80, and flexible tubes or hose 98 and98' extending upwardly through column 32 and outwardly through boom 40,to motor 94, the two motors being controlled by the operator fromcontrols (not shown) in the drivers compartment. The motor and controlstherefor are standard or conventional in design and construction andhence will not be described in detail herein.

Upright 60 may be any one of a number of suitable and well known uprighttypes extensively used in the industrial truck field, and hence will notbe described in detail herein, the one shown, however, consistinggenerally of a rigid, rectangular outer frame 100 having two inwardlyfacing channel-shaped, vertical side members 102 and 104 rigidlysupporting channel-shaped members 106 and 108, respectively, and aninner frame 110 of rigid construction having two channel-shaped members112 and 114 telescopically slidable in channel members 106 and 108 ofouter frame 100. Bearing chains 116 and 116 are disposed between channelmembers 106 and 112, and bearing chains 118 and 118 are disposed betweenchannel members 108 and 114 in order to facilitate the telescoping offrame 110 into the channel members of outer frame 100. Frame 100 isrigidly secured to hearing 81 by upper support members 120 and 122 andto hearing 82 by lower support members 124 and 126, rigidly connected atone end to the respective bearing, and at their other ends to members102 and 104 of frame 100. Thus, it is seen that frame 100 and column 62are pivotally joined to one another, permitting upright 60 to pivot fromside to side on column 62.

The fork assembly 128 which consists of fork members 130 and 132 mountedon and carried by a carriage 134, is slidably mounted on inner frame 110by slide members 136 and 138 connected to carriage 134 by supportmembers 140 and 142, respectively, the two support members 140 and 142being joined to slide members 136 and 138 by a plurality of bolts 144and 146 extending through the two support members into the respectiveslide members. The inner frame is moved telescopically in tracks 106 and108 relative to the outer frame by a hydraulic cylinder 150 disposed inthe center of upright 60 and supplied with hydraulic fluid from a pumpmounted on the main motor of the truck. Carriage 134 and fork members130 and 132 are moved vertically along frames 100 and 110 by hydrauliccylinder 150 through chains 151 and 152 attached at one end to the forkassembly and extending over pulleys 154 and 156, respectively, andanchored at the other end to outer frame 100 near the lower end thereof.It is thus seen that by the telescopic relation of the inner and outerframes, the upright 60 provides an effective high level extension forthe fork assembly which in turn is movable relative to the inner andouter frames.

The upright 60 is provided with a caster consisting a roller 162journalled on a pin 164 in fixture 166, the fixture being pivotallymounted on the bottom of outer frame 100 by a bearing 168 secured to thebottom plate of the frame. The caster is preferably resiliently mountedon the outer frame to permit it to retract and extend as the uprighttraverses uneven floors or pavement. In some installations, it may bedesirable to actuate the caster hydraulically to adjust its level withrespect to the bottom of the frame so that a positive support on thefloor or ground will be given upright 60, regardless of variations in orconditions of the supporting surface. The caster permits the load to bemoved substantially further to either side of the truck without causingthe truck to tilt, sway or otherwise become unstable, as well as toremove some of the weight from boom 40 and column 32. In someinstallations where exceptionally heavy loads are to be moved by thetruck, it may be desirable to further stabilize the truck .by providingone or more Outriggers on either side of the truck. Outriggers of a typesuitable for the present truck are well known, and hence will not bedescribed in detail here.

In the operation of the present front and side loading fork lift truck,the operator moves the truck loaded with a container or the like alongan aisle, such as illustrated in FIGURE 4, to the location where thecontainer is to be stacked. At this point, the upright is operated tolift the fork assembly 128 on which the container is mounted to thelevel at which the container is to be placed on the stack. Motors 80 and94 are then operated to swing boom 40 to the right, as illustrated inFIGURE 4, and to rotate upright 60 in the counter-clockwise direction.This places the fork in the position transverse to the boom and with theload held directly in front of but above the truck. Motor 80 is thendriven in the opposite direction to move the boom in thecounter-clockwise direction, and motor 94 is operated to maintain thepath traversed by the load perpendicular to the aisle, thus causing thecontainer to move inwardly over the upper tier of the stack with thesides of the container parallel with the sides of the containers in thestack. The container is then placed on the upper tier of the stack, andfork members 130 and 132 withdrawn from beneath the container byswinging the boom again in the clockwise direction. Motor 94 is thenoperated to return upright 60 to its original position with fork members130 and 1 3-2 projecting forwardly from the truck. In this operation,the caster 160 supports the upright and permits it to be swung laterallyto a much greater extent than would be possible without it or somelateral support for the truck. In removing a container from the uppertier of the stack, the foregoing operation is repeated in reverse. It isthus seen that little or no additional width of aisle is required forperforming the stacking operation than required for moving the containerin the aisle to and from the desired location in the stack.

While only one embodiment of the present lift truck has been describedin detail herein, various changes and modifications may be made tosatisfy requirements.

I claim:

1. A front and side loading fork lift truck, comprising a vehicle havinga chassis, a body, two front driving wheels, two rear steerable wheels,a motor on said chassis for driving said front wheels, a verticallypositioned column secured rigidly at its lower end to the rear end ofsaid chassis and projecting upwardly to a point substantially above saidbody, a horizontally positioned boom pivotally connected to the upperend of said column for slewing from side to side above said vehiclebody, a means for pivotally connecting said boom to the upper end ofsaid column including a sleeve extending downwardly over the upper endof the column and bearings at the upper and lower ends of said sleevebetween the sleeve and the column, a power means for slewing said boomon said pivot means including a sprocket rigidly connected to the upperend of said column, a sprocket and shaft rotatably mounted on said boom,a chain connecting said sprockets, a hydraulic motor mounted on saidboom for driving said shaft and second sprocket, a vertically positionedcolumn rigidly secured to the forward end of said boom and extendingdownwardly therefrom, an upright mounted on said second column, bearingmeans at the upper and lower ends of said second column, meansconnecting said bearing means to said upright, a power means foroscillating said upright from side to side on said bearing meansincluding a sprocket rigidly connected to said upper bearing means, asprocket and shaft rotatably mounted on said boom, a chain connectingsaid last mentioned sprockets, a hydraulic motor mounted on said boomfor driving said last mentioned shaft and sprocket, said upright havingvertically extensible members, and a fork assembly connected to saidvertically extensible members and movable vertically thereon.

2. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle having achassis, a body, two front driving wheels, two rear steerable wheels, amotor on said chassis for driving said front wheels, a column securedrigidly at its lower end to the rear end of said chassis and projectingupwardly to a point substantially above said body, a horizontallypositioned boom pivotally connected to the upper end of said column forslewing from side to side above said vehicle body, a means for pivotallyconnecting said boom to the upper end of said column including a sleeveextending downwardly over the upper end of the column and bearings atthe upper and lower ends of said sleeve between the sleeve and thecolumn, a power means for slewing said boom on said pivot meansincluding a sprocket rigidly connected to the upper end of said column,a sprocket and shaft rotatably mounted on said boom, a chain connectingsaid sprockets, a hydraulic motor mounted on said boom for driving saidshaft and second sprocket, a vertically positioned column rigidlysecured to the forward end of said boom and extending downwardlytherefrom, an upright mounted on said second column, bearing means atthe upper and lower ends of said second column, means connecting saidbearing means to said upright, a power means for oscillating saidupright from side to side on said bearing means including a sprocketrigidly connected to said upper bearing means, a sprocket and shaftrotatably mounted on said boom, a chain connecting said last mentionedsprockets, and a hydraulic motor mounted on said boom for driving saidlast mentioned shaft and sprocket.

3. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle having a frame,a body, a vertically positioned column secured at its lower end to therear end of said frame and projecting upwardly to a point substantiallyabove said body, a horizontally positioned 'boom pivotally connected tothe upper end of said column for slewing from side to side above saidvehicle body, a means for pivotally connecting said boom to the upperend of said column including a sleeve extending downwardly over theupper end of the column and bearings at the upper and lower ends of saidsleeve between the sleeve and the .'column, a power means for slewingsaid boom on said pivot means, including a sprocket rigidly connected tothe upper end of said column, a sprocket and shaft rotatably mounted onsaid boom, a chain connecting said sprockets, a motor mounted on saidboom for driving said shaft and second sprocket, a vertically positionedcolumn rigidly secured to the forward end of said boom and extendingdownwardly therefrom, an upright mounted on said second column, bearingmeans at the upper and lower ends of said second column, meansconnecting said bearing means to said upright, a power means foroscillating said upright from side to side on said bearing means,including a sprocket rigidly connected to said upper bearing means, asprocket and shaft rotatably mounted on said boom, a chain connectingsaid last mentioned sprockets, and a motor mounted on said boom fordriving said last mentioned shaft and sprocket.

4. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a verticallypositioned column secured at its lower end to the rear end of saidvehicle and projecting upwardly to a point substantially above saidvehicle, a horizontally positioned boom pivotally connected to the upperend of said column for slewing from side to side above said vehicle, ameans for pivotally connecting said boom to the upper end of said columnincluding a sleeve extending downwardly over the upper end of the columnand bearings at the upper and lower ends of said sleeve between thesleeve and the column, a power means for slewing said boom on said pivotmeans, a vertically positioned column rigidly secured to the forward endof said boom and extending downwardly therefrom, an upright mounted onsaid second column, bearing means at the upper and lower ends of saidsecond column, means connecting said bearing means to said upright, apower means for oscillating said upright from side to side on said lastmentioned bearing means, a wheel positioned below said upright andturnable on a vertical axis for alignment with the direction of movementof said upright, said upright having vertically extensible members, anda fork assembly connected to said vertically extensible members mova-blevertically thereon.

5. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a verticallypositioned olumn secured at its lower end to the rear end of saidvehicle and projecting upwardly to a point substantially above saidvehicle, a horizontally positioned boom pivotally connected to the upperend of said column for slewing from side to side above said vehicle, ameans for pivotally connecting said boom to the upper end of said columnincluding a sleeve extending downwardly over the upper end of thecolumn, a power means for slewing said boom on said pivot means, avertically positioned column rigidly secured to the forward end of saidboom and extending downwardly therefrom, an upright mounted on saidsecond column, bearing means at the upper and lower ends of said secondcolumn, means connecting said bearing means to said upright, a powermeans for oscillating said upright from side to side on said lastmentioned bearing means, a wheel positioned below said upright andturnable on a vertical axis for alignment with the direction of movementof said upright, said upright having vertically extensible members, anda fork assembly connected to said vertically extensible members andmovable vertically thereon.

6. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a columnsecured at its lower end to the rear end of said vehicle and projectingupwardly to a point substantially above said vehicle, a horizontallypositioned boom pivotally connected to the upper end of said column forslewing from side to side above said vehicle, a power means for slewingsaid boom on said pivot means, a vertically positioned column secured tothe forward end of said boom and extending downwardly therefrom, anupright pivotally mounted on said second column, a power means foroscillating said upright from side to side on a vertical axis, a wheelpositioned below said upright and turnable on a vertical axis foralignment with the direction of movement of said upright, saidiuprighthaving vertically extensible members, and a fork assembly connected tosaid vertically extensible members.

7. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a columnsecured at its lower end to the rear end of said vehicle and projectingupwardly to a point above said vehicle, a horizontally positioned boompivotally connected to the upper end of said column for slewing fromside to side above said vehicle, a power means for slewing said boom, avertically positioned column secured to the forward end of said boom andextending downwardly therefrom, an upright pivotally mounted on saidsecond column on a vertical axis, a power means for oscillating saidupright from side to side, and a supporting means below said upright andturnable on a vertical axis for alignment with the direction of movementof said upright.

8. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a columnsecured at its lower end to said vehicle and projecting upwardly to apoint above said vehicle, a horizontally positioned boom connected tothe upper end of said column for slewing from side to side above saidvehicle, a power means for slewing said boom, an upright mounted on saidboom, a means for pivotally connecting said upright to the forward endof said boom, a power means for oscillating said upright from side toside on a vertical axis, and a supporting means below said upright andturnable on a vertical axis for alignment with the direction of movementof said upright.

9. A front and side loading truck, comprising a vehicle, a columnsecured at its lower end to said vehicle and projecting upwardly to apoint above said vehicle, a horizontally positioned boom connected tothe upper end of said column for slewing from side to side above saidvehicle, an upright mounted on said boo-m, a means for pivotallyconnecting said upright on a vertical axis to the forward end of saidboom, and a supporting means below said upright and turnable on avertical axis for alignment with the direction of movement of saidupright.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,646,182 7/1953Maas 214-672 2,699,879 1/1955 Bertram 214-653 2,753,066 7/1956 Arnot214671 2,772,797 12/1956 Schreck 214-132 3,077,338 2/1963 Bergerson etal. 254l39.1 3,106,305 10/1963 Gehring 214-730 3,163,298 12/1964 Wyld254-139.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 535,597 4/1941 Great Britain.

714,071 8/ 1954 Great Britain.

555,970 2/ 1957 Italy.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

R. B. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner.

9. A FRONT AND SIDE LOADING TRUCK, COMPRISING A VEHICLE, A COLUMNSECURED AT ITS LOWER END TO SAID VEHICLE AND PROJECTING UPWARDLY TO APOINT ABOVE SAID VEHICLE, A HORIZONTALLY POSITIONED BOOM CONNECTED TOTHE UPPER END OF SAID COLUMN FOR SLEWING FROM SIDE TO SIDE ABOVE SAIDVEHICLE, AN UPRIGHT MOUNTED ON SAID BOOM, A MEANS FOR PIVOTALLYCONNECTING SAID UPRIGHT ON A VERTICAL AXIS TO THE FORWARD END OF SAIDBOOM, AND A SUPPORTING MEANS BELOW SAID UPRIGHT AND TURNABLE ON AVERTICAL AXIS FOR ALIGNMENT WITH THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAIDUPRIGHT.